on the resistance to net/media-art

Most people will only think about the current situation inEastern Europe and Russia in objective terms: The lines arebad, the computers might be old, there will be no money,perhaps there is no proper training for the electronicartists-to-be, not enough bandwith, too expensive accessproviders, etc.

All this is true, but it also counts for many West- and South Europeancountries. For me these problems are relative, everywhere it is a little bitdifferent: too much money and therefore no interest (Swiss), anunwillingness to get organized (Hungary), telecom problems combined witha deep distrust in technology (Germany), difficulties in collaboration(Austria) and a hegemony of small, commercial providers (almost everywhere).

What interests me are the hidden, unspoken objections to media-art ingeneral by the cultural agents who are in charge. In Moscow I found themost outspoken resistence against these developments. You mentioned someof them and I would add some. They are perhaps not only acurate forMoscow. I found similar tendencies in Romania, Bulgaria and in dull,right-wing, elitist circles in the West who are on their 'decline' trip.

These arguments are hard to counter because they are not addressedin the open. Hardly any conservative art critic will ever bring thosethoughts on paper, mainly because they are full of resentment. Still,we encounter them everywhere. The undercurrent resistence against newmedia is responsible for the fact that computers are stillin hands of companies, universities, big institutions, etc. Where do wefind large scale cultural/art programs, raising public awareness andtraining? Nowhere. Anyway. We do not complain. Some hidden reasons:

- the dominance of literature over visual art and thereby, also over allthe new media of the 20 century. Writers (and art critics) as the oldintellectual class still make a lot of decisions when it comes togrants, prices, subsidies, government policies.

- the fear of an older generation to lose their jobs because they feelthat they are not anymore able to learn anything new (universal problem).

- the low intellectual discourse on new media, lack of good critics anda lack of training of young critics who can deal with media/art/theory.

- the dark side of the current hype surrounding 'the Net', producingalmost only superficial data, again stressing the bad and banalimage of 'media', compared to serious literature, opera, painting.

- the actual crisis in the art scene and the strong wish to produce'objects' that are easy to sell (allready a problem for the previousvideo art generations).

- the fear of becoming a craftman/woman (programmer/designer) and therbylosing the possibility of ever becoming a 'genius artist'.

- some specific cultural aspects, like religion, like the orthodoxchurch, who prefers to see a return to traditional art forms.

- an unspoken hate against mass culture, of which media (and the Net)are certainly part.

- the idea that experiments, avant-garde, underground, counter culture,alternative movements, marginal artists etc. are historical categoriesand that we are now living in the age of professionalism. A fear to getassociated with amateur undertakings who will finaly lead nowhere.

I would like to challenge these bureaucrats and their intellectuals.Perhaps it is a waste of time. Should we convince them? Or should we tryto formulate the current conservative trend so that we understand a bitbetter why (despite all the hype) media-art-experiments remain amarginal part of the cultural life in many countries.

Many visionairies proclaim a sort of inevitable revolution from below, inherent to the logic of the technology, as a kind of built-in device. Amongst us there is astrong wish and a hope for a paradigmatic change that seems to be in theair. But perhaps completely other processes are taking place around us,if we allow ourselves to look away from the screen for a minute.